Jud
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "he shall be praised".
Name Census estimates that about 426 living Americans carry the first name Jud. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jud today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jud births was 1961 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jud. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Jud with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
426
~ 1 in 804,588 Americans
Peak year
1961
17 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2020 SSA rank
#10,042
Tracked since 1915
Census
Jud in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 721 people with the first name Jud, which placed it at #15,828 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#15,828
National first-name rank
People counted
721
721 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jud
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jud is White at 85.6%. The next largest groups are Black (4.6%) and Hispanic (4.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Jud described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Jud at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.6% · 617
- Black or African American4.6% · 33
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 30
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 22
- Two or more races1.7% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 7
Popularity
Jud: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jud from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 115 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jud by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Jud during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Juds live
Origin
Meaning and history of Jud
The name Jud has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, with roots dating back to ancient times. It is a diminutive form of the name Judah, which is derived from the Hebrew word "Yehudah," meaning "praised" or "celebrated."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jud can be found in the Bible, where Judah was one of the twelve sons of Jacob and the eponymous ancestor of the Tribe of Judah. The name gained significance in the biblical narrative, as it was through the line of Judah that the Messiah was prophesied to come.
Throughout history, the name Jud has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the earliest was Jud Sirik, a 7th-century Armenian prince and military leader who played a pivotal role in defending his homeland against the Arab invasion.
In the 13th century, Jud ben Moses ha-Kohen was a renowned Jewish philosopher and astronomer from Toledo, Spain. His works contributed significantly to the advancement of astronomy and influenced the development of scientific thought during the Middle Ages.
During the English Civil War in the 17th century, Jud Critchett was a prominent Puritan minister and chaplain who supported the Parliamentary cause against the Royalists. His sermons and writings were influential in shaping the religious and political discourse of the time.
In the realm of literature, Jud Süß, also known as Joseph Süß Oppenheimer, was a Jewish banker and court Jew in 18th-century Württemberg, Germany. His life and controversial trial served as the inspiration for the novel "Jud Süß" by Wilhelm Hauff, published in 1827.
Another notable figure bearing the name Jud was Jud Fry, an American outlaw and gunfighter who lived in the late 19th century. Fry gained notoriety for his involvement in the Lincoln County War in New Mexico and was known for his skill with a gun.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who carried the name Jud, highlighting its enduring presence across diverse cultures, professions, and eras.
People
Jud + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jud as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jud: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jud?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 426 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jud going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 804,588 US residents.
Is Jud a common name?
We classify Jud as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 622 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jud most popular?
The single biggest year for Jud was 1961, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jud is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jud in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 721 people with the name Jud, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,828 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Jud in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Jud?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jud leans strongly male. 614 people counted with this name were male (84.5%), compared with 113 female bearers (15.5%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Jud?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jud is White at 85.6%. The next largest groups are Black (4.6%) and Hispanic (4.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Jud most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jud in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.6% (617 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Jud in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jud a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jud in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Jud still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jud in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Jud can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Jud?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Jud on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.